Maybe Kirk was afraid, Mitchell would ultimately become so powerful that he could force starships to come to him regardless of a quarantine zone ... or escape from Delta Vega some other way.
Or Kirk just had "issues" after Mitchell killed Kelso.

I´ve always wondered, if Mitchell was killed at all. When that rock fell on him he had already regained his power. And with his power present, not even a blast from a phaser rifle could harm him.
Just a thought ...

Maybe Kirk was afraid, Mitchell would ultimately become so powerful that he could force starships to come to him regardless of a quarantine zone ... or escape from Delta Vega some other way.
Or Kirk just had "issues" after Mitchell killed Kelso.

I´ve always wondered, if Mitchell was killed at all. When that rock fell on him he had already regained his power. And with his power present, not even a blast from a phaser rifle could harm him.
Just a thought ...

Mario

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There had to be some cap on the power as the crew of the Valient did not end up detroying the Galaxy so his power must have stoped growing at some point.

Apparently, after Mitchell had killed his friend Kelso in cold blood (more like "crushed like an insect" as he had announced he would in the transporter rrom) he had crossed a line and revealed that he had become personified evil (i.e. militant selfish- and ruthlessness) and considering his powers he needed to be stopped, judged (for killing a fellow shipmate) and executed.

Kirk made that clear with what he probably thought would be his last order:

KIRK: If you have not received a signal from me within twelve hours, you'll proceed at maximum warp to the nearest Earth base with my recommendation that this entire planet be subjected to a lethal concentration of neutron radiation. No protest on this, Mark. That's an order.

Of course and most likely, the Q Continuum would have put a stop to Mitchell's rampage (where do the Q come from, did they also encounter the energy barrier?) but Kirk did it himself, so they didn't see the need to interfere.

Yup, he did know that. There was no foreseeable limit to Mitchell's growth and power. Mitchell had to die or else grow so powerful, anything would be possible for him. Even getting off the planet. Either Kirk would have to do the deed, or his last order would (hopefully) take care of it.

The real question should be, "why didn't Kirk just grab the phaser rifle when Gary was normalized and blow him away instead of having a brawl?" I mean, aside from "the episode had to end with a fistfight in a ditch."

Yup, he did know that. There was no foreseeable limit to Mitchell's growth and power. Mitchell had to die or else grow so powerful, anything would be possible for him. Even getting off the planet. Either Kirk would have to do the deed, or his last order would (hopefully) take care of it.

The real question should be, "why didn't Kirk just grab the phaser rifle when Gary was normalized and blow him away instead of having a brawl?" I mean, aside from "the episode had to end with a fistfight in a ditch."

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On-screen evidence suggests that Micthell flung Kirk's phaser rifle too far away for Kirk to recover it promptly (the parabolic arc looked very long and shallow, we never heard it hit the ground). Coupled with Dehner's warning to Kirk after Mitchell and Dehner's struggle ("Hurry! You haven't much time!") and Kirk probably thought that his only option was to try to kill Mitchell with his bare hands. Or, perhaps he was simply trying to incapacitate him until another solution could be devised.

Either way, the fistfight never felt forced or contrived to me. In fact, unforced and uncontrived fistfights are my favorite kind.

And, then I went back at watched the clip with the fistfight and saw that the rifle was actually only a few meters away...my bad.

Although, it landed in a place Kirk wouldn't have seen when he began fighting Mitchell. It's possible he didn't know where the rifle was until he and Mitchell took the fight over that big boulder and down the hill.

Mitchell already showed signs of being content with building his own paradise - a conventional one, but possibly a first step in creating a whole separate universe for his personal purposes. But that probably wouldn't stop him from blinking other universes on and off just as a hobby project...

I think Kirk always knew that Spock was right: that Mitchell had to die. But it took a lot until he would admit to this. Grabbing a rifle and going after Mitchell was probably still a half-measure - something that Kirk excused to himself as a "rescue operation" to save Dehner's life, but that in reality was just a final attempt to delay putting Mitchell to death. The rifle still had a stun setting, probably, and at least allowed Kirk to have dialogue from behind the sights; the orbital irradiation would be final.

The real question should be, "why didn't Kirk just grab the phaser rifle when Gary was normalized and blow him away instead of having a brawl?" I mean, aside from "the episode had to end with a fistfight in a ditch."

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Kirk knew he didn't have much time. Mitchell is not just going to stand there while Kirk runs over and gets the phaser rifle. He most likely would have used the rocks as cover; causing Kirk to search around for a clear shot. He obviously knew he didn't have time for that and thought that he would get GM while GM was still on the ground.

I guess any attempt at retreating would have been aborted by Mitchell, who by that time very well knew Kirk was watching.

Not that this need have affected Kirk's decision-making in any way. But I don't see Kirk retreating anyway: he'd probably have been ready to stay back and ensure that Mitchell dies along with Dehner and himself, what with his mounting ire at Mitchell, his mounting despair over his own impotence, and his mounting understanding of the severity of the threat Mitchell really posed to life, the universe and everything.